Train Survival: You're really trying to survive!

Shortly after they re-submerged, Su Li and the others sensed that something was wrong.

"The temperature has risen," Sofia was the first to notice something was wrong, "and it's still rising."

"be careful."

Everyone focused intently on the descent. This time, they descended at least 400 meters, which did not match the surface map.

Suddenly, the view opened up before Zuli. The artificial wall in front of him had completely disappeared, replaced by a huge cave.

The entire cave radiated a crimson light, and the source of the light was the semi-cooled lava on both sides of the cave.

"Ugh, it's so hot," Jingzhe couldn't help but complain.

Qi Guohui glanced around and, seeing no living creatures in the glow of the lava, said, "It seems this is the bottom level. I didn't expect it to be a lava cave."

"It must be because they're considering using geothermal energy," Su Li said, pointing behind her.

Everyone turned around and saw a huge man-made structure extending into the lava behind them. However, this man-made structure was no longer in use.

"It's truly magnificent," Xiao Gao exclaimed.

Sofia nodded. Indeed, the enormous void and the massive man-made structures made one deeply aware of one's own insignificance.

The lava on the ground, with its black outer shell, has various cracks and fissures, and from this angle, the flowing red magma inside can be clearly seen.

This place felt like hell, inspiring fear in all who looked upon it.

The group landed on a vast rocky avenue. The avenue stretched into the distance, where a small cave could be seen.

The cave had a huge door that had fallen to the ground, and Zuli and his companions could clearly see the rock covering the outside of the door.

"If that gate is intact, it should be a pretty good disguise," Su Li remarked. "Perhaps that's the base for the Water Source Project mentioned in the diary."

Su Li guessed that for the people of this civilization, water was similar to the spark of human civilization. That water source project might be the kind often seen in movies—a plan to preserve outstanding individuals for the future, waiting to restart civilization after a war.

"I don't know, but it's worth exploring." Qi Guohui waved his hand, and a pale red halo appeared around him.

Su Li immediately felt that the surrounding heat had dropped a lot, and with the blessing of the great god, the water temperature was no longer a problem.

Su Li and the others slowly walked to the side of the cave.

"Wait, something's up." Qi Guohui suddenly stopped Su Li and the others from advancing.

"Hehehe~ You guys are here~"

A strange laugh came from inside the cave.

Upon hearing this unexpected conversation, Jingzhe temporarily abandoned her attack intentions, though the arrow in her hand remained nocked on her bow.

As the sound faded, a figure slowly emerged from the cave.

It was an image that resembled a snake-man from a game.

He had a snake-like lower body and four arms on his upper body, with two arms behind his back and each arm supporting a cane. He wore a tattered robe that only covered his chest and abdomen.

His body was covered in purple scales, but these scales were very ugly, with many missing or misaligned scales, as well as some pustules and strange spots, and his skin was extremely loose.

Even without having seen this race before, Su Li could tell at a glance that this was a very, very old snake-man.

"Hehehehe, you've finally found us! Ee hee hee hee~~"

The old snake-man chuckled, some sticky saliva dribbling from the corners of his mouth, his cloudy eyes revealing no emotion.

Hearing this, the old snake-man seemed to regard them as enemies. Qi Guohui quickly said, "Please don't misunderstand, we were sent by the Great Serpent to retrieve the token."

After saying that, he used the magic energy within his body to stimulate the blessing given by the serpent, and immediately some golden light shone from his body.

Seeing the golden light, the old snake-man trembled, dropped his cane, and kowtowed to Qi Guohui: "Oh~ Great Serpent Lord, creator of the Primordial Sea, our creator, you~ you~ you~"

The old man suddenly stopped, like a tape recorder stuck in a rut, mumbling for a long time without saying anything more.

"No, no, no, you...you're already dead, aren't you?"

"Hehehe, you're lying to me. I'm so smart, I saw through you at a glance~ Orochi is dead~ blown in two~ Blood~ Flesh~ Beautiful, beautiful~ Bliss, bliss~"

The old man suddenly began to sing a song in a frenzied voice. The song was full of incomprehensible chanting, which Zu Li and his team could not translate.

The old man sang and danced, then suddenly kowtowed on the ground, and then picked off his own scales with his fingers, putting them in his mouth and tearing at them meaninglessly, appearing very energetic.

“No, this old man looks like he’s gone mad.” Xiao Gao’s eyes gleamed pink as he observed for a while, then shook his head. “His mental spectrum is completely chaotic.”

Qi Guohui said regretfully, "There's no other way. We can only break through his defenses and get inside."

"Go in?"

These two words seemed to trigger the old man's switch again. The old man, who was still biting his fingers on the ground, suddenly stopped and stared at Su Li and the others with a blank, drooling face.

"That's right, Orochi is dead. You must have stolen Orochi's power."

"No, I can't die! Hehehe, he's dead, I can't die!"

The old snake raised his cane with both hands and shouted to the sky with a fanatical expression:

"For the sake of my slumbering people, I am the Great Serpent Lord! I am the Great Serpent Lord!"

"Ho~~~"

A roar that sounded like multiple voices overlapping faintly rose up, and just hearing it made Su Li feel her back tremble.

"Did you hear that? That's a dead person!"

The old snake-man's words came to an abrupt halt. Jingzhe's right hand left a trail of afterimages as she fired arrows that struck the old snake-man. Sophia also emptied her magazine in an instant.

Sophia and Jingzhe exchanged a glance and smiled approvingly.

"Hehehe~"

But the laughter hadn't stopped. Qi Guohui, with a cold face, looked at the old snake-man whose upper body had been smashed, and placed half of his head on the exposed spine.

A gash appeared on his stomach, replacing his mouth, and emitted a strange laugh.

"I cannot die! I am Orochi! Guardian of the world! Avenger of the world!!!"

"I won't die! I still want to avenge everyone!"

"Come, come, my final creation! My half-body, Orochi!!!!"

"Ho~~~"

A tremendous roar came from the lava, and then, huge bulges rose from the lava lakes on either side of the old man. These two bulges then began to rapidly approach Su Li and the others.